Mr Hat - The Hat Man of Many Talents

At the age of 23, La Touché is an apprentice hat maker and brand consultant who was born and raised in North London. He is the creator and director of ‘hatabouttown’ and is on his way to taking over the world through his love of all things hats. Coming from a fashion background working with companies such as Individualism – as their PR manager – La Touché fills us in on the meaning and inspiration behind his work as well as what’s in store for hatabouttown after celebrating their 1st birthday! Sitting in one of his favourite places in East London, sipping on his fresh mint tea –not forgetting his pot of honey – the mysterious Mr Hat tells me prior to the interview how he’s managed to make a name for himself as ‘Uncle Cool’ to his younger cousins by being friends with Donell Jones’ parents and how he plans to maintain it!Khalilah: So tell us a bit about yourself; where you’re from and what you’re about.La Touché: Hey, my name is La Touché; I am an apprentice hat maker. I am originally from North London, in Enfield and I love hats. I’m pretty crazy about hats to be honest. And because of my love for hats I started an Instagram page called ‘hatabouttown’ which has now become an actual movement. This movement is to get people wearing hats again!K: Cool, so how long ago did you start this Instagram page?L: Erm, a year and two months ago. One of my mentors once said that when thinking about at which point you created something it’s not necessarily the time in which it went up ‘live’ to the public, but the time at which you started writing about it. So if I was to say that then probably just under two and a half years. I’ve always kinda been thinking ‘hatabouttown’ or more so having a platform on a whole to vent my love for hats. I mean, I could tell friends but after a while they were getting a bit annoyed with me so I thought to myself, “Let me just start a page on Instagram where I just go round taking pictures of people wearing hats.” I realised that hats weren’t getting enough appreciation and if they were it was being associated with accessories. But for me personally, I feel as though a hat is just a hat and that it should be classed within its own field rather than an accessory. And that’s why I started hatabouttown – for the appreciation of hats.K: So have you always had a love for hats from a young age?L: Yeah from a while back when I was quite young. It all started when I would stay over at my grandparents’ house. When my grandfather was getting changed, I would always come in half way through. Once he had his suit on he still looked like granddad but once he put his hat on, there was this completely different person standing in front of me and I was always fascinated by that. It would just completely transform his outfit. Even now I think to myself how no other item of clothing can transform an outfit as much as a hat can, and as young as I was then I felt as though that was something incredible. I wanted to know more about it and at that age my grandfather promised me that I could have his trilby to which I received when I was 18 when he passed away. I think I officially fell in love with hats when I realised that the hat that he promised me when I was a kid to the hat I got given was the same and we ended up being the exact same head size and that blows my mind. So every time I wear it, I wear it with pride. So I guess it’s a sentimental thing as to why I love hats and why I always wear hats.K: I just have to ask, are you upset that I’m currently not wearing a hat?L: Oh most certainly. I’ve managed to subliminally tap into people indirectly and now when they meet me, they’re wearing a hat. So when I have meetings with clients and stuff they’re like “I wore a hat just for you.” So yeah, I was a bit disappointed if I’m honest!K: I’m sorry! What hat would suggest I should have worn today to transform my outfit?L: So like right now I would have either done a Porkpie, because your look is quite early 60’s/70’s. I like the kinda mod look you’ve got going on there with the Dr Martens. Erm yeah, so I would have given you a Porkpie but to switch everything up a little, you could also rock a Wide Brim hat. I’m almost positive I’ve seen you in a floppy Fedora once or twice…K: That’s so weird coz I really want a Fedora! Okay so back to your Instagram page, you said that it’s been around for a year and two months. How did you build up so much coverage and publicity about your movement? L: Believe it or not, as little as possible. It’s weird because coming from a fashion background – working with Individualism as their PR manager – you would expect me to push it a lot. But when it came to my own thing, I didn’t really want to PR it as much; I wanted it to be as natural as possible. My main goal was to find hat lovers. I wanted to find other people that share the same joy of hats that I do, so I wanted it to be as organic as possible. What initially happened was within the first couple of months people were like, “Oh, what’s this? This is something different.” and I think this was due to the focus solely being on hats and nothing else. I kept it in the same format of just showing the hat. The great thing as well is that the longer you keep doing it your camera skills get better! So when I first started I was doing shots face on but then I realised I just need to show the hat rather than the face, so my angling improved. But it’s like with anything, you learn as you go along. But one thing that’s really helped me was when I started the hashtag #hatabouttown. The hashtag started on my own page @LaToucheUK . I would put a photo up and put the hashtag #hatabouttown and it started to grow. But I noticed that it started to grow quickly, even quicker than I expected it to. So yeah, just through the use of the hashtag #hatabouttown and consistently wearing a hat.K: So is consistency the key?L: Yes. I would also say realistically your love for something. Once that shows, people will start talking about it. I feel confidently that your passion will spread your idea quicker than social media.K: So if you could sum it up in 3 tips for someone starting up what would you suggest?L: I would say; word of mouth - get people talking about it, consistency and social media. K: So on Insta you’re known as Mr Hat, is there a Mrs Hat on the scene? L: (Laughs) you need to say that question again!K: Is there a Mrs Hat on the scene, Mr Hat?L: (Laughs) Erm no there’s not at the moment. K: At the moment?L: At the moment there isn’t unfortunately. (Laughs) that was a good question! K: Haha, thank you! Okay just before we come off the topic of things hat related; did you see Pharrell’s hat at the Grammy’s?L: I didn’t directly see Pharrell’s hat at the Grammy’s, however I’ve seen a few images. I think that what is great about Pharrell is that something could have already been started and because he’s such a big influence, he is able to reset that trend. So from my little knowledge on the hat that he’s wearing – which is a Buffalo hat – the history behind it is from the early/mid 70’s. There was an artist/designer(?) that started wearing it and then eventually Vivienne Westwood then did her own take on it. But on whole, the history behind the hat that he’s wearing is great and I have no problem with it because at the end of the day he’s wearing a hat! The only thing that I will say is that of lately – and this might get me into a bit of trouble – I find that he has gone from wearing baseball caps now to wearing fedoras and really cool hats like that. I really like the change, and I also like to think that I helped to influence that somehow!K: You just mentioned Vivienne Westwood, you met her at fashion week last year didn’t you? L: Oh wow, yeah I did! She’s scary. She’s very scary; I’m actually scared of her. She reminds me of those Roald Dahl story books. There will be this scary old woman that lives in her house alone and she has a forest for a garden and like really high railings for gates, that’s Vivienne Westwood. But one thing I noticed about her, through her interaction with people, that if she likes you, then you’re loved. If she doesn’t like you then you’re hated.K: So are you going to be attending fashion week this time round?L: I won’t be at fashion week this time because I’ll be in the studio a lot designing hats. But what I will most certainly be going to is Headonism. Which I believe is on the 14th, which is obviously specifically just for hats. So I will most certainly be going to that. I’ve got a lot of friends who are milliners, that are taking part, plus I’ve been invited down by Steven Jones one of the head milliners in London. He’s one of the best in London if not the best, himself and Noel Stewart. So I’m looking forward to meeting with Noel Stewart again and meeting Steven Jones for the first time.K: Okay so we’re rounding off now, this is more back to you – what’s in the future for hatabouttown and where do you see it going?L: Movement wise, my goal is to get more people wearing hats. I want to start affecting big cities. I mean New York wise, I’ve been to New York already with hatabouttownand it’s got a really good response which I’m pretty excited about. I think that’s because it’s fresh and new and more importantly no-one’s doing it. I believe that when it comes to hats people feel that because they’re so niche and discreet and quite a reserved community of people, that others believe that there isn’t enough following and enough traffic within hats – but there is. But it’s not in the same light as fashion because it’s a completely different world. So yeah it’s just about taking over and getting hatabouttownin as many cities as possible. I’m working on something at the moment that will help push hatabouttown on a whole. I just want to get more people wearing hats and find more hat lovers. I think the greatest thing for me is when I stop people and hear their stories. The stories behind the hat are what blow my mind. One guy I met grew up with Nina Simone and was friends with Picasso! Random, crazy stories like that give me a buzz. I was saying to my friend the other day seeing a hat for me is like seeing a £20 note on the floor and knowing it’s yours. I get this kinda warm feeling inside, I get all giggly and stuff. It’s a big deal a really big deal, I get too excited. But I love it.K: Who would you say is your biggest inspiration?L: My father is my biggest inspiration. Purely because he is consistent. Consistency is a thing that I feel a lot of people struggle with because it requires a lot of discipline. It’s not easy to be consistent; I mean I’m trying myself. But I look at my father who has lost so much and is still here today and is still here for us as a family. Based on what he’s been through for me, makes him successful. So many people mention success with wealth; how big your house is or how big your car is, but for me I think success is measured on your achievements and on the past you were in and how far you’ve come now. And that’s my main source of inspiration, that’s what wakes me up every morning. K: And what would you say was your biggest achievement?L: Wow. Good question… wow. I’ve never thought about this. You know what, my biggest achievement was when I went to New York last year and I stopped this girl in Williamsburg, NY. She was wearing this beautiful hat and I asked her where she got it from. She told me that it was from a quite famous, well known hatting shop called Pork Pie Hatters and she told me there were two or three within Brooklyn so I was like I’ll make sure I go and check them out. So a couple of days later when going to my friend’s gig with my two other friends, I look to my right and see the shop that the girl told me about. I asked if we could quickly pop in because they know how much I love hats. So we quickly run in and I say hello to the guys and we’re looking around at hats and stuff and I go to the guy “Quick question, do you happen to have this particular hat.” And as I slowly start describing this hat this guy looks at me and he goes “Yo man, you’re hatabouttown aren’t you?” I immediately started screaming. I was like “What?! How do you know?!” He told me that they follow me and the way in which I described the hat must have been a part of my movement. I was like this it nuts! All the way in NY someone knows about hatabouttown. So yeah, that’s my biggest achievement so far. That alone made my whole seven and a half weeks in NY. K: Wow! So hatabouttown has left town and gone to the States, international level out here! Okay so closing off, tell us an interesting fact about you that no-one knows about!L: I played drums for Rihanna at the Brit Awards! That was amazing, I was buzzing!K: La Touché, you are a man of many talents! Thank you so much for taking the time out to do this interview, I really appreciate it!L: No, thank you!

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